Apparatus for readying the yarn end portion of bobbins in textile machines



Oct. 20, 1964 S. FURST ETAL APPARATUS FOR READYING THE YARN END PORTION Filed 00%,. 13 1961 OF BOBBINS IN TEXTILE MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 20, 1964 s. FURST ETAL 3,153,513

APPARATUS FOR READYING THE YARN END PORTION 'OF BOBBINS IN TEXTILE MACHINES Filed Oct. 13, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 [Z I /06 l 21 I M I a A) [l6 7;, V J] 47' 1/ 1 24 Z N 24a 24' I H 52 M /i a 32 6 I J0 I} 27 0L (l ,7; ,3

.526 a 24 j; y 2/ 176 Oct. 20, 1964 s. FURST ETAL APPARATUS FOR READYING THE YARN END PORT ION OF BOBBINS IN TEXTILE MACHINES 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed 001;. 13, 1961 FIG. 5

JOE

FIG.6

United States Patent Our invention relates to textile machines for the fabrication or processing of yarn supplied in the form of bobbins or cops from which the yarn is unwound during operation of the machine. In one of its more specific, though not exclusive aspects, the invention concerns cheese or cone winding machines in which the yarn coming from a number of successively supplied cops is rewound'in order to forma larger, cross-wound yarn package of cylindrical or frusto conical shape. In such winding machines, as well as in other textile machines in which yarn is being unwound from a cop or other bobbin, the various machine operations have been automated to a great extent. This applies particularly to devices which automatically stop the machine when a yarn-supplying cop becomes exhausted, and which then doif the depleted core of the cop, substitute a full cop and thereafter tie the yarnend of the new cop together with the yarn end coming from the take-up spool, before re-starting the machine operation. Such an automatic cop exchange requires automatically seizing the yarn end of the new cop and passing it to a knot-tying device. For this purpose, it is of advantage to provide the copwith a reserve winding of yarn, usually called bunch, that may be located on one or both core ends, for example on the core tip, of the cop. For seizing the yarn, the turns of yarn in the bunch are pulled 01f axially by mechanical or pneumatic means prior to commencing the unwinding operation. This operation subjects the body of the cop to an axial force. In order to prevent axial displacement of the cop by this force, the other end of the cop core, for example the head portion thereof, has been held anrested either by a clamp engaging the core from the outside, or by means of a clamping spring protruding into the central bore of the usually tubular core.

Such clamping of the bobbin or cop at its core is infeasible or impractical if the particular textile machine requires the cop to be freely located on its support. This is the case, for example, with cheese or cone winders in which the yarn reserve incorporated into a bunch on the tip or head of the core must be pulled ofi while the cop is still located in a magazine or other ready position, prior to the moment where the cop is passed to the unwinding position. As a rule, a number of cops are located in such a magazine, all in approximately horizontal position, and are individually conveyed to the unwinding location. It is then desirable to remove the reserve winding or bunch from each cop shortly before the cop leaves the magazine,

so that the starting end of the yarn is kept available in a fixed ready'position when the cop moves to the location where it is unwound. The automatic yarn-end seizing and'conveying means of the machine can then reliably operate to seize the starting end of the cop from the proper place and to convey it to the knotting device.

It is an object of our invention to devise an apparatus capable of reliably preventing an axial displacement of a cop while pulling a reserve winding or bunch off the cop, with the cop still in prone position and resting with its yarn body on some external support rather than being already speared-up on a mandrel or other core clamping means.

According to a feature of our invention, we provide the apparatus with stop or clamp means which, with the cop in prone position, engage the wound body of yarn of the cop rather than its rigid core.

Such stop means may consist of two rods located at the conical portion of the body of yarn wound onto the core of the cop, these two rods being spacedfrom the axis of the cop a distance smaller than the largest diameter of the body of yarn. As a result, the cop cannot become pushed through the space between the two rods under the effect of the axial force needed for pulling a tip bunch oif the cop.

Stop means of the kind just mentioned are suitable only in cases where the cops being used are substantially uniform in diameter. However, if, for example, the bobbins being used are spinning cops as they come from the spinning machine, a uniform geometric shape of the cops is not always secured. This is because during spinning operation any stoppage of an individual spinning spindle, as may be due to yarn breakage, cannot be compensated. The ring bank of the spinning machine progresses uniformly for all spinning spindles, regardless of whether one or more spindles are at standstill. Consequently, there occur grooves in the peripheral surface of the resulting spinning cops and also deformed conical shapes of the wound body of yarn on the cops, depending upon the time point and duration of spindle stoppage. With the above-described stop means consisting of two aligned rods to engage the conical portion of the yarn body on the cop, a' deformed conical shape of that body would have the consequence that the cop may become displaced some distance in the axial direction when the tip bunch is being pulled off. Accordingly, the gripper or other stripper tool which serves to pull the tip bunch off the cop would have to be adjusted to the most unfavorable conditions. The most unfavorable condition is the one at which the cop nowhere attains the datum diameter over its entire axial length. The above-mentioned tworod device therefore is satisfactory only for use with cops of uniform diameter but does not operate reliably when the cops to be used are substantially different in diametrical size.

It is, therefore, another object of our invention to prevent an axial displacement of the freely resting cop during removal of the yarn reserve, under all conditions and regardless of any of the above-mentioned irregularities.

To this end, and in accordance with another feature of our invention, we provide the apparatus with holding means designed as movableclamping members that are engageable by inward motion with the wound body of yarn on the cop either at the cylindrical peripheral portion or at the conical portion of the yarn body. To avoid damaging the yarn windings, it is preferable to provide the clamping members With elastic linings. In cases where the clamping members are to be used with cops whose surfaces, particularly as in the case of spinning cops, are not uniform, a reliable holding action can be secured by providing the clamping members or jaws of the holding device with soft-elastic linings or coverings. According to a more specific feature of our invention, such coverings consist preferably of an elastic hollow body filled with a compressible medium, preferably a rubber hose filled with air, so as to be capable of adapting itself to non-uniformities in the surface of the cop.

For the reasons explained above, not only the cylindrical surface portion of the body of yarn but also the conical portion of that body on the cop may have nonuniform geometrical shape and dimensions, particularly when spinning cops are being used. According to a further feature of our invention, therefore, a reliable action of the clamping meansis obtained and an axial dist. placement of the cop prevented even in the event of such irregularities of the conical surface portion, by giving the clamping jaws an arcuate shape so that the clamping jaws, under the action of an axial force, are self-locking in one direction and self-releasing in the other direction.

The above-mentioned and other objects, advantages and features of our invention, said features being set forth with particularity in the claim annexed hereto, will be mentioned in, and will be apparent from, the following in conjunction with the embodiments of the invention illustrated by way of example on the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows schematically an axial view onto a cop clamping mechanism of the apparatus according to FIG. 2

FIG. 2 is a part-sectional lateral view of a cop-magazine and tip-bunch resolving apparatus.

FIG. 3 illustrates schematically a top view onto another embodiment of a cop clamping mechanism for a tip-bunch removing apparatus. 7

FIG. 4 is a partly sectional side elevation of a magazine and tip-bunch resolving apparatus of which the mechanism according to FIG. 3 forms part.

FIG. 5 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 shows some of the components of FIG. 4 on a larger scale.

Before describing the apparatus according to the invention, it will be helpful to note the particular design and shape of the illustrated bobbins. This type of bobbin, usually called cop, comprises a tubular elongated core 1g which carries a body of yarn wound upon the core so as to leave the two core ends bare, these ends being the head portion and the tip 1e (FIGS. 3, 4). The

body of yarn has a straight cylindrical surface 1b over the major portion of its length, a rounded portion near the head of the core and a conical portion 1d near the tip. For facilitating an automatic seeking and seizing of the yarn end, such a cop is usually provided with a reserve winding or bunch consisting of a number of turns 'Wound upon one or both otherwise bare ends of the core.

In the illustrated cops only a tip bunch 1a is provided. This tip bunch is best visible in FIGS. 3 and 4.

As explained, when an individual cop is to be used for its intended purpose, such as for winding a cheese, cone or other large yarn package from a number of individual cops, the tip bunch is first resolved by pulling it over the tip with the aid of mechanical grippers or by an air current. The amount of yarn previously stored in the bunch then becomes available as a relatively long starting end of the cop, and this yarn end can be conveyed to a knotting device or other fabricating devices by automatic means in a more convenient and more reliable manner than without the presence of such ayarn reserve.

In the apparatus according to FIGS. 1 and 2, as well as in the apparatus according to FIGS. 4 to 6, the tip hunch is stripped off the cop by mechanical grippers or claws 27 which, when in operation, exert a pulling force axially toward the left upon the cop. At that time the cop has not yet reached its unwinding position but is still located in a ready position, or in a magazine, where it is freely supported beside one or more other cops. In order to prevent, under these condtions, an axial displacement of the cop under (the stripping force acting axially upon it, the apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises two movable clamping members 3 and 3' which carry respective jaw plates 3a and 3'11 joined with hollow air-filled bers 2 and 2' are preferably bonded to the plates 3a and 3'a, for example by being vulcanized thereto. The clamping members 3 and 3 are fastened on respective shafts 4 and 4' each of which carries a bell crank lever 5 or 5'. A pull spring 6 extends between the two levers 5 and 5 and produces the clamping pressure for holding the cop between the clamping jaws. The crank levers 5 and 5 are connected by respective linking rods 7 and 7' with a double-armed lever 8 which is pivoted at St: and articulately joined with a driving rod 9. When the rod 9 is moved in the direction of the arrow A shown in FIG. 1, the clamping jaws are opened and release the cop 1.

As shown in FIG. 2, the cop 1 and one or more other cops of which only one is shown at 1' are horizontally positioned and stacked upon each other in a magazine 10 formed essentially by two U-shaped structures straddling the respective ends of each cop, as is apparent from the corresponding design of the magazine members 10a and 1% shown in FIG. 5. The lowermost cop 1 is the one next to be discharged from the magazine in order to pass to some other location where its yarn is to be used. This lowermost cop 1 is supported at its conical portion 1d on a roller 11 (FIG. 2), and at its head by a magazine lock 12. The normally closed lock 12 is opened by displace ment of a control rod 13 as soon as a new cop is to be supplied to the winding station where the new cop is needed. In the illustrated example, the lock 12 consists of a known mechanism comprising a cover 12a fastened on a lever 12c rotatable about a pivot pin 12b. Also fastened to the cover 12a is an angular lug 12e which, during displacement of the control rod 13 in the direction of the arrow B, turns toward the left so that the head of the cop will first drop upon the lug 12c. When the lock 12 is being returned toward the illustrated position the cover 12a prevents the next upper cop from dropping below the cover, whereas the lowermost cop is now released from lug Me and turns downwardly about the roller 11, and the cop can now drop into a trough 14 on which it slides downward to the winding station.

The above-mentioned control rod 13 is preferably ac tuated from the winding machine or other equipment that is to be supplied with a new cop from the magazine. That is, the motion of rod 13 resulting in actuation of the lock 12 may be caused mechanically or eiect romag' netically by a signal issuing from the winding machine when the cop previously processed becomes depleted. For example, an apparatus according to the invention may be employed in lieu of the cop magazine 6 in a cheese winding machine according to the copending application of Walter Reiners, Serial No. 15,503, filed March 16, 1960, now U.S. Patent No. 3,030,040, owned by the assignee of the present invention; or the apparatus according to the invention may be employed and, if desired, modified by the provision of pneumatic bunch stripper means in accordance with the machines illustrated and de'= scribed in my copending application Serial No. 750,382, filed July 23, 1958, now Patent No. 3,074,660, also as= signed to the assignee of the present invention. However, the control rod 13 may also be actuated by hand, for ex ample by a manual push button, the particular manner of operation being not essential to the present invention proper.

The magazine lock 12 is connected with an electric switch 15 which closes as soon as the lock 12 is actuated by displacement of the control rod 13 in the abovedescribed manner. The switch 15 then completes an energizing circuit for an electric motor 16 which starts driving a cam shaft 17. While for simplicity a direct connection between switch 15 and motor 16 is shown, it will be understood that conventional control components may be interposed. I

The shaft 17 carries three cams denoted by 18, 23 and 25 respectively. As the cam shaft 11 commences to rotate in the counterclockwise direction, indicated in FIG. 2 by an arrow C, a lobe 18' of cam 18 releases a switch arm 19 pivoted at 21 and biased by a spring 20 to turn clockwise. The arm 19 closes a contact 22 which establishes a self-holding circuit for the motor 16 so that the motor 16 will continue running when the switch is again opened after resetting of the lock 12. The contact 22 is opened by the cam lobe 18' only after the shaft 17 and its set of cams have completed a single full rotation so that the motor will then stop.

The cam disc 23 cooperates with the follower nose 24b of a lever 24 pivoted at 24a and linked to the abovementioned rod 9. During rotation of the earns, the follower 24b reaches a point where it travels from a wider diameter onto a smaller diameter of the cam 23. This causes the lever 24 to turn clockwise about its pivot 24a so that the rod 9, under the action of the pull spring 6 (FIG. 1) moves downwardly and causes closing of the clamping jaws 2, 3 and 2, 3.

The cam 25 on shaft 17 coacts with a follower lever 26 pivoted at 26a. During further rotation of the cam shaft 17, the follower point of lever 2s also passes onto a smaller cam diameter. 27' are mounted on a stripper tool 27 which is displaceable in axial relation to the cop clamped between the clamping jaws and which is biased by a helical compression spring 28 in the direction toward the cop. The follower lever 26 is linked at 261) to the stripper tool 27. Consequently, as soon as the follower lever 26 turns counterclockwise in accordance with its shift from a larger to a smaller cam diameter, the stripper tool 27 is released to move toward the cop under the action of spring 28, and the grippers 27' pass beneath the tip bunch of the lowermost cop 1. During further rotation of the cam shaft 17, the lever 26 is turned back about pivot 26a in the clockwise sense so that the stripper tool 27 is forced toward the left in opposition to the spring 28. This causes the grippers 27' to entrain the tip bunch and to pull it off the core of the cop. Thereafter the lever 24 is moved counterclockwise about its pivot 24a so that the rod 9 shifts upwardly in accordance with the arrow A in FIG. 1, and the clamping jaws are opened. Ultimately the lobe 18 of cam 18 causes opening of contact 22 so that the motor 16 and the cam shaft 17 are stopped in the starting position.

The stripper tool 27 is tubular and is telescopically joined with the nozzle portion of a suction pipe 30 connected to a blower or other suitable source of negative air pressure. The blower or other negative-pressure source is in operation as long as the device is in operative condition. Consequently the length of yarn pulled off the cop by the stripper device is sucked into the bore of the tubular stripper tool 27 and may also enter into the suction pipe 30, where the yarn is held by suction until the yarn is seized by suitable devices of the winding machine to be supplied with the new cop, and is then conveyed to the knotting mechanism of the machine.

It will be understood, therefore, that as the cop is being released from the magazine in the above-described manner after its tip bunch has been removed, the starting end of its yarn body remains kept in the suction tube and hence extends from the magazine along the slide 14 to the proper processing location at which the new cop will arrive. Along this path the yarn end can be conveniently located, seized to be conveyed to the above-mentioned knotting mechanism.

While in the embodiment described above the clamping jaws engage the cylindrical portion'of the yarn body on the cop, the corresponding clamping means in the apparatus presently described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 6 act upon the conical portion 1d of the cop surface.

The clamping means comprise members 31 and 32 which are pivoted on respective pins 31a, 32a and are placed against the conical surface of the yarn body under the action 'of spring force. The engaging surfaces of clamping members31 and 32 are provided with a coating or covering of a material having a high coefiicient of The above-mentioned grippers 6 friction (,u) relative to the yarn. Such covering r'nay consist of rubber, for example.

By pulling the tip bunch In (FIG. 3) from the cop, the cop is subjected to an axial force P,,, which causes at the clamping members 31 and 32 a force l normal to the arcuate contour of the clamping members. The force P produces at the pivotally mounted clamping members a torque P .a which tends to open the clamping mechanism so that the cop would tend to glide through in the direction of the force P Then, however, a frictional force P p. will result at the clamping members and will produce a torque P,,.,u.b acting in opposition to the moment P a and hence tending to close the clamping mechanism. When selecting the dimensions so that the lever arm b is approximately twice as large as the lever arm a, the use of a rubber covering, having a friction coefiicient of ,u,=0.8, results in a frictional moment P .,u.b which is larger than the moment P a. Consequently when the tip hunch is being pulled off, the clamping members have the tendency to rotate toward the cop thus firmly clamping the cop between each other. It is significant to give the contour of the clamping members 31 and 32 such a curved shape that the clamping of the cop also takes place if the conical surface portion of the yarn body is smaller than usual, for example due to occurrence of some fault during the spinning operation. The dot-and-dash lines 1h in FIG. 3 indicate such a small conical surface, against which the same clamping members 31 and 32 will place themselves to secure a reliable clamping operation.

In other respects the apparatus according to FIGS. 3 to 6 is similar to that described above with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the same reference characters being applied to similar components respectively. By opening the lock 12 under the action of a control rod 13 in the above-described manner, the electric motor 16 is put into operation to turn the shaft 17 with cams 18, 23 and 25 counterclockwise as indicated by an arrow D in FIG. 4. The cam 18 then immediately closes a contact 22 which keeps the motor 16 energized after the lock-actuated switch 15 is opened. The cam 23 causes the cop to be clamped under control by a lever 24 which is pivotally mounted at 24a and turned clockwise by a pressure spring 33 when the follower nose 24b of lever 24 passes from a larger onto a smaller diameter of the cam 23. Such clockwise motion of lever 24 is transmitted by a connecting pin 35 to two rods 34 and 34a which are linked at 32!; and 31b to the respective clamping members 32 and 31. The motion of lever 24 thus places the clamping members 31 and 32 against the conical surface portion 1d of the cop 1.

The cam 25, acting through a follower lever 26, controls the operation of the stripper tool 27 in the manner described above. Also fastened on shaft 17 is a cam disc 36 cooperating with a follower lever 37 pivotally mounted at 37. The lever 37 has one arm extending into the magazine 19 for lifting the tip of the cop 1' located just above the lowermost cop 1. This has the advantage that, when the lock 12 is being opened, the lowermost cop 1 can more readily turn about the roller 11 to glide into the trough-shaped slide 14. The lever 37 is biased against the cam disc 36 by means of a pull spring 38.

As mentioned, apparatus according to the invention can be modified in various respects. For example, the air-filled hose members 2, 2 at the clamping jaws 3, 3 (FIG. 1) can be substituted by bodies of foam material. The individual control means for clamping the bobbins or cops and for removing the tip bunch or other yarn reserve, as well as the particular control means for operating the individual components in the proper time sequence, are illustrated and described only by way of example, it being readily possible to use other known and suitable mechanisms instead, or to use components of one illustrated embodiment in conjunction with components described and shown in conjunction with the other embodiment. Such and other modifications will be obvious and available to those skilled in the art, upon a study of this disclosure, without departure from the essential features of our invention and within the scope of the claim annexed hereto.

We claim:

An apparatus for readying the yarn end-portion of a cop having an axially elongated core and a wound body of yarn covering said core except the core ends with the yarn end-portion forming a bunch on at least one of said core ends, said yarn body having a conical surface portion tapering toward the bunch-carrying end of the cop core, said apparatus comprising supporting means for freely supporting the cop in resting position and oriented in a given axial direction, bunch stripping means mounted in coaxial relation to said axial direction and actuable upon the bunch in said direction to strip the bunch off the cop for resolving the end portion of the yarn so as to impose an axial force upon the cop, clamping means having two clamping members mounted at opposite sides of the cop and movable toward the cop into engagement with respective diametrically opposite surface portions of the yarn body when the cop is supported on said holding means, control means connected with said stripper means and with said clamping means for keeping said two clamping members in clamping engagement during operation of said stripper means to prevent axial displacement of the cop, said two clamping members being pivotally movable about respective pivot axes on opposite sides of the cop when located on said supporting means, and said clamping members being engageable with said conical surface portion of the yarn body and having an engaging-surface contour of arcuate shape and having self-locking action clue to said axial force.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,666,735 Colman Apr. 17, 1928 

